The next day, Beihua Gate.
Before dawn, the darkest night before dawn still enveloped the entire giant city.
The huge and majestic city gate has a large opening, and it looks like the mouthparts of a giant beast under the illumination of the large bright pattern lamp.
The huge city in the hinterland of Great Yan set up checkpoints at night without closing the city, handling the supplies needed by thousands of people every day.
And among the thousands of caravans, a caravan with only seven or eight vehicles quietly left the Imperial Capital in the last darkness of the night and headed towards the north in a hurry.
Driving up the official road, the monster in front began to accelerate gradually, and the sound of hooves could be heard far away.
And in a carriage in the middle of the motorcade,
Xu Yuan sat quietly in his seat and practiced. Next to him sat Li Qingyan, who was concentrating with his eyes closed, and opposite him sat two old acquaintances.
The second prince Li Zhaoyuan and the third prince Li Yunqing.
Li Yunqing poured and drank the remaining blue and white wine from last night, while Li Zhaoyuan lowered his eyes and read a book of unknown origin.
The carriage's carriage swayed gently with the hooves of the monster beast in front of it,
Four of Dayan's top second-generation people were crowded into a low-class carriage, which looked a bit nondescript.
It's very quiet inside the carriage.
None of the four people spoke, except for the rustling sounds made by Li Zhaoyuan from time to time as he flipped through ancient books.
I don’t know how much time passed, but Li Yunqing slowly put down his wine glass and suddenly smiled:
"Second brother, what books have you been reading all day long?"
As soon as the words came out, Li Zhaoyuan, who was flipping the books on one side, paused slightly and smiled slightly:
"Some customs of the North."
Li Yunqing took a long breath after hearing this and leaned on the soft couch behind him:
"Feng Tu Zhi? What are you looking at these for?"
Li Zhaoyuan's sword-browed and starry-eyed face looked calm:
"Third brother, the northern border is in chaos. If you are abandoned outside, you should at least be able to disguise yourself if you are familiar with the customs."
The look in Li Yunqing's eyes flashed and he grinned:
"We are just going to join the army to gain qualifications, why should we be so cautious?"
"Everything must be prepared." Li Zhaoyuan was very patient.
Li Yunqing sighed quietly:
"Second brother, you seem to have been like this since you were a child. You always like to take everything into account."
There was a moment of silence as the monster raced so fast on the official road that the entire carriage shook.
Li Zhaoyuan's answer to this evaluation was very ambiguous:
"I also learned this from His Highness the Crown Prince."
Li Yunqing shook his head and said as if on purpose:
"The eldest brother is not as calm as you, the second brother. He behaves slowly in everything he does. Hesitation is not calm."
Li Zhaoyuan answered very officially:
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will inherit the throne in the future. How can we be arbitrary in matters of national importance? We must think twice before acting. How can I compare with His Highness the Crown Prince?"
"Ah"
Xu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes at this moment, chuckled, and interrupted:
"Second Prince, you are so humble. My father's opinion of you is much higher than that of the prince."
As soon as these words came out of the carriage, there was an instant silence.
Li Qingyan still closed his eyes and meditated, maintaining a cold attitude.
Li Yunqing was stunned for a moment, and his smile became a little playful.
Li Zhaoyuan's expression remained normal, but he did not reply immediately.
Although the ultimate goal of this trip to the north is to exchange protons between the royal family and the Prime Minister's Mansion.
But the choice of Proton is worth pondering.
It's not the candidate from the Prime Minister's Mansion, but from the royal family.
The second prince now has many supporters in the court, but he lacks a top minister to support him.
Under such circumstances, the second prince took the initiative to serve as a hostage and went to the side of Zong Qingsheng, the leader of the army in the Prime Minister's Palace, and was agreed to it. This makes people feel that there is nothing fishy in the process.
But can these things be explained clearly?
Xu Changtian saying it so bluntly was almost equivalent to putting Li Zhaoyuan on the fire.
For a long time,
Li Zhaoyuan smiled slightly, and did not choose to hide it, and said directly:
"Thanks to Mr. Xu's love, Zhaoyuan knows that there are still many shortcomings. This trip to the north hopes to make up for these shortcomings."
After a pause,
Li Zhaoyuan glanced at Li Qingyan opposite him without leaving any trace.
One's own family knows one's own affairs.
The prince, the third prince, and the ninth princess were all born to the queen.
Li Yunqing openly refused to seize the throne, but Li Qingyan was a daughter and could only support the prince.
The important ministers standing behind these people almost formed a huge iron curtain on his way to Jin Luan's throne.
But now that the matter has come to this, he has no way out.
Compared with these three biological brothers and sisters, his second brother, born to the imperial concubine, is an outsider.
If not, Li Zhaoyuan really didn't want to cooperate with that old fox Xu Yinhe.
Cooperating with Xu Yinhe is tantamount to seeking the skin of a tiger, and it is easy to be treated like a puppet.
in silence,
Li Qingyan suddenly opened his eyes, and glanced at the third and second princes with a pair of sharp phoenix eyes, with a chilling look:
"Nowadays, there are external and internal troubles in the Great War, and soldiers are bleeding on the front. As a royal family, you are thinking about fighting for power and profit. Don't you feel ashamed?"
"."
Li Zhaoyuan was silent for a moment, with a look of guilt on his face, but his mind became more active.
These words surprised him a little.
He had always thought that this prestigious imperial sister would support the prince, but after hearing these words, it seemed that she did not want to participate.
Then I thought about it. Qing Yan grew up in the north. How could he have some kind of family relationship with the prince during his years of fighting? How much benefit can there be?
In this case, Wu Chenghou’s attitude will also be neutral?
Wu Chenghou was a loyal royalist, but he did not express his position on which emperor he wanted to protect.
Thinking about it, Li Zhaoyuan glanced at Li Qingyan again.
If we could know what this imperial sister wanted, we might be able to win her over.
While Li Zhaoyuan was still thinking, Li Yunqing already started to apologize:
"What Sister Huang taught you is that Yun Qing has learned a lesson."
The titles of prince and princess are two systems.
The third prince and the third princess can exist at the same time. Although Li Qingyan is the ninth princess, she is older than the third prince Li Yunqing.
"."
silence.
Li Qingyan closed his eyes and did not want to talk to the third prince.
Since she returned to Beijing, the eldest brother whom she had not seen a few times since she was a child has seen her seven or eight times.
She didn't know whether the concern in her words was true or false, but the relationship between the two was not enough to make the other party come so diligently.
Li Yunqing didn't feel embarrassed, and turned to look at Xu Yuan aside:
"Husband-in-law, you said that my father and the others are true. You and the emperor's sister have already decided to get married, and they asked you to go to the north together."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan spread his hands helplessly and said:
"Your Majesty, he and my father are going to exchange protons, so we can't let the prince and my brother go, right?"
"."
As soon as the words came out, Li Yunqing was silenced again.
Brother, can we not be so direct when talking?
Li Zhaoyuan smiled slightly at this moment:
"Changtian is still as sincere as ever."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Xu Yuan smiled and hugged his fists, and raised his hand to get Li Yunqing's wine, ready to have a drink, but this guy took it away first.
Li Yunqing looked at Xu Yuan with surprise:
"No, what are you doing?"
Xu Yuan glanced at the half-drunk bottle of blue and white wine:
"Drink some, why are you so stingy?"
"."
Li Yunqing chuckled and said angrily:
"Don't you know, Third Young Master, that you have to pay for things you buy?"
"."
Xu Yuan said nothing and raised his arms to hug Li Qingyan's shoulders.
Li Qingyan glanced at him coldly, but did not resist.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan said naturally:
"I am your sister's fiancé. We are a family, and we still charge money to each other?"
Li Yunqing stared at Xu Yuan for two seconds, then suddenly smiled:
"What the Third Young Master is saying is, didn't someone run away from my Yuntian Palace yesterday without paying? That person looks a bit like you, the Third Young Master. I'm a little nervous, come on."
With that said, Li Yunqing handed over the blue and white wine in his hand.
Xu Yuan felt a little funny in his heart.
If you can escape the order based on your ability, why should you pay?
Just as he was about to pick him up, Li Qingyan on the side picked him up first and said abruptly:
"Yunqing, what is Yuntian Palace you are talking about?"
Li Yunqing grinned mischievously when he heard this:
"Back to Sister Huang, my newly opened Goulan restaurant is full of prostitutes."
"."Xu Yuan.
Damn it, this guy is waiting for him here.
"Red shepherd?"
Li Qingyan narrowed his phoenix eyes, and his voice had a hint of danger: "The person who escaped from the bill stayed overnight?"
"This is it"
Li Yunqing glanced at Xu Yuan without leaving any trace, and said cautiously:
"Well, I don't know, but he seemed to have gone with a beautiful woman, and he fought with others. After the fight, the woman lay on the ground motionless."
"."Xu Yuan.
Li Qingyan glanced at Xu Yuan coldly.
Xu Yuan has rich experience in dealing with situations.
There is no way to explain this situation. The more you explain, the darker it becomes.
Face not red, heart not beating, Xu Yuan replied calmly:
"The world is so big, it is inevitable that there will be some people who are similar to me. I practiced swordplay at my uncle's place last night, and he can testify."
Except for his nephews Xu Yuan and Xu Changge, Feng Jiuxuan had a bad temper with other people. Xu Yinhe had to be polite to him, and no one dared to verify it.
Li Qingyan poured Xu Yuan a glass of fine wine and said with a smile:
"Come on, Changtian, let's drink."
Xu Yuan coughed lightly:
"No."
Li Qingyan's eyes were filled with surprise: "Don't you want to drink? You are prohibited from drinking alcohol when you enter my military camp."
Speaking of which,
Li Qingyan's phoenix eyes curved into two slits:
"Of course, as long as you are willing to take my whipping, Changtian, you can drink it."
Xu Yuan coughed lightly, blocked the wine glass, changed the topic and asked:
"By the way, does this trip need to be so mysterious? Not to mention flying monsters, why doesn't our carriage even have a shock absorber?"
Li Qingyan took a deep look at Xu Yuan and explained:
"Due to the need to keep it secret, the Yunqi bomb cannot be put into the Sumeru Ring. Most of the transportation departments in the northern government have the sect's spies. River transportation and air transportation are their key inspection areas. There are many carriages and horses on the land route, so it is the safest."
Xu Yuan understood instantly when he heard this, but he still had to pretend, and said:
"So what if it's an inspection? Do they still dare to rob it?"
Li Zhaoyuan, who was reading on the side, put down the ancient book in his hand and said with a smile:
"Robbing, of course they don't dare to rob, but they can notify the barbarians in advance."
Xu Yuan frowned:
"So if this is exposed, those barbarians won't take the bait?"
Li Zhaoyuan smiled and continued to read and plan.
Li Yunqing looked at Xu Yuan in a strange way.
It seems to be saying,
play,
You continue acting.
No one answered, and there was silence for a moment.
The carriage drove out for a long time,
Li Yunqing seemed to be unable to bear the loneliness and started to speak:
"By the way, Third Young Master, do you know something?"
Xu Yuan didn't have a good look towards his grandson and said:
"How would I know if you didn't tell me?"
Li Yunqing smiled slightly and said mysteriously:
"The female catcher with whom you are deeply married was previously demoted to Beifeng City."
Xu Mengxi was demoted?
The last time he was arrested was just a routine matter. His father would never give someone a hard time for something like this.
There were many people visiting his father in the court, but there were very few people dealing with him.
Xu Yuan pondered for a moment, but did not pretend to be confused and said with a smile:
"You just want to catch me, there is no marriage."
Unexpectedly, Li Qingyan did not express dissatisfaction, but simply asked calmly:
"The Secret Investigation Department is going to Beifeng City?"
Li Yunqing nodded:
"Yes, she was demoted two decades ago. It is said that she did not know how to adapt, but she was probably sent down by her master to gain experience. Although the North is dangerous, it is also a good place to make achievements."
Li Qingyan shook his head:
"The achievements in Beifeng City are not easy to mess with."
Xu Yuan had only been to Beifeng City once when he was a child, and he didn't know much about the situation there:
"No matter how complicated the situation in Beifeng City is, it shouldn't be as complicated as that in Imperial Capital, right?"
Li Qingyan glanced at him and said:
"Although Beifeng City is full of moths, these people are not soft at all due to the years of war. If you dare to investigate their profit network, these people will make you disappear. Previously, the imperial envoys sent by the imperial court came to inspect the local tax. Yin, as soon as they entered the city, a fire broke out at the inn where they were staying.”
Xu Yuan crossed his legs and frowned:
"Is the northern border so chaotic?"
Li Qingyan lowered his eyes, rubbed the corners of his silk skirt, and nodded:
"Unlike other borders, except for Uncle Mu's Beifeng Army, the border troops on the northern border have been completely infiltrated by those sects."
Saying,
Li Qingyan raised his eyes, with strong murderous intent flashing in his eyes:
"Because of these moths, the people in the north and even many of my soldiers were sacrificed for no reason."
Li Zhaoyuan raised his eyes and glanced at Li Qingyan, with a hint of thought in his eyes.
He really wanted to know what this royal girl wanted.
She seemed to hate the sect even more than those barbarians.
Thinking about it, Li Zhaoyuan sighed in his heart.
He may not be able to win over her support.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan raised his hand and gently stroked her back, and said softly:
"The moths should be dragged to the manure pit and drowned. Princess, isn't this the purpose of our trip to solve this problem?"
These days, Li Qingyan has almost adapted to men's physical contact with her and nodded:
"As long as the barbarian troubles in the north are resolved, Uncle Mu promised me that he would give me a chance to eliminate these borers myself."
The words fell, and there was silence.
The monster carriage rushed along the wide official road towards the northern border.
One month later,
Thousands of miles of ice cover, thousands of miles of snow drifting, even though it has already entered summer, the thick snow clouds cannot be melted in the sky, and the blizzard falling from the sky makes the visibility on the official road less than ten feet.
After a quarter of an hour of walking, a majestic city that had blocked the barbarians for thousands of years suddenly came into view.
or2
(End of chapter)
